Estée Lauder sales advance in China

Jul 10, 2014

Estée Lauder’s Tmall store is seeing some early success since launching on May 21 with robust sales in its first full month. June sales was reportedly 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million), according to China Internet Watch.

More important, indications are that the online store has helped its offline business as well. Estée Lauder Tmall store saw nearly one million visitors and over two million views with products bookmarked over 50,000 times by 30,000 visitors, according to CCW.com.cn.

The Tmall shop, which had 7,941 transactions in its first day with sales estimated at 2.69 million yuan, is Estée Lauder’s only authorized third-party e-commerce site in China. In China, beauty imports are stronger and more popular. Estée Lauder aims its business at the top 10-15 percent of Chinese consumers, a group roughly larger than its European base.

An early entrant in the China market, Estée Lauder secured a relationship with Chinese consumers and benefited as the middle class grew and women started gaining more disposable income. In 2013, China was the company’s third-biggest market after the US and UK and nearly half of Estée Lauder’s brands are available in China, Fabrizio Freda, CEO of Estee Lauder Cos, told China Daily.